All She Wanted
by Arounagein
Summary: Sasuke has made his decision to leave Konoha, before he leaves he decides to finally give Sakura the day she always wanted with him. But will he come to find that he wanted it to?
1. Making Plans

Hey everybody! It has been forever since I have written, so you're going to have to cut me a little slack with this one. :D This is _my_ version of when Sasuke leaves Konoha for Orochimaru (curse him! grr) so if all the details don't quite match up to the manga or show exactly, that would be the reason.

This is centered much on Sasuke's inner struggles as he severs bonds and his relationship with Sakura. So, if he seems a little OOC it's only because you are seeing more of his inner battles and personality and not so much the cold mask we're used to seeing/reading. I also wanted to focus on that 'first love' feeling. You know the confusion and the nervousness? I think it's going to be really cute! Tell me what you think. Okay I'm done rambling now. Enjoy!

I do not own any of the Naruto characters, Kishimoto does.

* * *

He had finally made his decision.

To gain the power he needed to kill his traitorous brother, he had to leave Konoha. Orochimaru was, in the end, his only option. He thought over this as he slipped on his shoes and walked out the door, on his way to the last training session with his team he would ever have. Rain dripped from the sky in small droplets, almost as if it could sense the sadness in his heart, it was crying in sympathy for him. He looked around the streets of Konoha as he treaded along the path to the training field, taking in the small things he would miss. None of it mattered in the end. He knew that his destiny was that of an avenger, to kill his brother was his only purpose in life now, and all these little things truly would come to mean nothing. Nonetheless, he would miss them. This was his home town after all. Looking up at the clouded sky above him, he took a deep breath and tried to rid himself of the sentimental thoughts in his head, it was making him sick. Sasuke walked slowly, taking his time to think, Kakashi would be late anyway. As the training field finally came into his view, his dark blue orbs noted the figure already waiting there. Sakura. She was leaning up against one of the wooden posts, looking up at the rain. Her hair was damp and sticking to the skin of her face, but she didn't seem to mind the rain that was now pouring down. She turned her gaze in his direction and smiled.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." She said softly as she saw him approach.

"Hn," He sounded in response. He never really knew what to say to her, and in his mind, it was a waste of time to try and come up with something.

"How are you this morning?" She tried again in an attempt to get him to form an actual verbal reply. Her emerald orbs watched him expectantly, waiting for him to speak or even to acknowledge that she had spoken.

Sasuke took a moment to think while glancing at her from under the veil of black hair that hid his face. Taking a breath, he considered if it was even worth it to speak to her, seeing as within two days or so he would be gone and most likely never talk with her again. On the other hand, that was just it. He would never talk to her again. He sighed as he weighed his options and in the end he decided that if these were the last chances to speak to his teammate, he might as well take them.

"I'm…okay." He stated flatly, the words feeling awkward as they passed over his pale lips. Looking up at her, he saw her staring at him. The intensity of her green eyed gaze made him look back down at the wet earth beneath him.

'_Why is she staring at me like that?" _ He thought to himself in confusion. He tried to brush it off as nothing but when he looked back up to her, she was still looking at him in the same way. She seemed somewhat shocked and just kept starring, her wide emerald eyes glimmering slightly in the gray light of the cloudy sky. He finally just decided to ask her what she was starring at, and get it over with.

"What?" Sasuke asked, trying to sound cold and demanding as usual, but sounding more nervous than anything when it came out. Sasuke regretted it as soon as his question left his mouth. He hated it when girls stared at him, it always made him feel awkward, that's the very reason why he always ignored them in the first place. They were annoying and stupid for making him feel that way and it was a waste of time for him to talk to them.

She continued to look at him and then answered his inquisition. "You…never answer me when I ask you that…and you did this time." Sakura still sounded slightly in awe that he had for once actually replied to her.

He looked at her, registering what she had said. A twinge of guilt pricked at his heart as he realized that he really never had. And now, he would be leaving. His gaze fell back to the mud at his feet, his thoughts running through all of the things he was prepared to leave behind, his home, his town…but mostly, his friends. His face was blank as he internally fought himself. He tried to convince his sentimental half that it was necessary to leave, that his revenge, his purpose depended on it. He would not let his family die in vain; he wouldn't let their memory be tarnished by his inability to avenge them all because he couldn't let go. How weak was he? His dark blue orbs were filled with a hidden sadness as he looked up to her again and spoke,

"Sorry." He stated quietly.

She looked at him worry filling her green eyes. Her thoughts suddenly turned to panic. Had she upset Sasuke-kun? Trying to fix her mistake she stepped closer to him, attempting to reach out and comfort him, to which he swiftly dodged. Her eyes saddened as she looked at him.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings; I was just surprised that's all. I didn't think it would make you sad. It wasn't a bad thing that you never answered me, it was just different that you did." She rambled, unsure of how to fix what she had done; a pink blush dusted her cheeks.

He looked up at her, trying to look annoyed. "You didn't 'hurt my feelings'. I'm fine, really. It's nothing." He stated his voice sounding just as cold as it usually was.

"Oh…Okay," She said, looking down to the soaked ground beneath her sandals.

The sound of footsteps could be heard as their other teammate arrived, late as usual. But this time, Sasuke was somewhat glad that Naruto had been late, the whole situation would have been much more awkward with him there to blurt out things without thought. Sasuke didn't turn to face Naruto as he ran up to them, his face filled with true annoyance now. But why was he annoyed? He thought to himself. It's not like Sakura and him were having a great conversation to begin with. He thought over it and chalked it up to him just being irritated by Naruto as usual. However somewhere deep down in a place where Sasuke himself didn't even realize existed, he knew that he had enjoyed his little time alone with Sakura. He always had. Every time they would be left alone he would savor her presence, even if he didn't ever act like it or acknowledge that he did. She would be someone that he would miss most. However that was something that Sasuke Uchiha would never admit to anyone—or to himself for that matter.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto beamed. His bright smile just as jubilant as always, his hands placed on the back of his head as he walked closer to his comrades.

"Hi Naruto," She replied to him, but her eyes did not meet his, they were focused on Sasuke as they always were.

Kakashi showed up around twenty minutes later, making up an excuse for his tardiness, his only visible eye squinting in his form of displaying a smile as he apologized. Naruto complained as always, Sakura scolded him and Kakashi chuckled at them. It was a perfectly happy, normal training session for everyone—well, everyone but Sasuke that is. He watched them quietly, the pangs of guilt flooded his being again and he wrapped his arms around his middle to try and hold himself together. Why did this decision hurt so much? He had gone over his plan multiple times in his mind, every detail accounted for, but he never anticipated this pain. It shouldn't be so hard to let go. So why was it? He finally snapped out of his internal thoughts at the sound of his name.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Kakashi asked in concern, noting the pain in Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke straightened himself out, closing off his inner feelings once more and putting his usual expression back on. Looking up at Kakashi, he responded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said.

Kakashi looked at him warily, taking acute notice to Sasuke's quick closing off of emotion. He knew something was wrong, but he decided it could wait until Sasuke wanted to talk.

Training went on as usual. By the end of the lesson all Sasuke wanted was to go home and disappear, being around these people hurt. It hurt him to see all of the things he was losing, and while he struggled to tell himself that it was worth it in the end, it still did not ease his guilt. He stared up to the rainy sky and prayed to whatever god might be listening. He prayed that he could just let go, sever all attachments and bonds like he knew he had to—but apparently, no one was listening. Ever since his family was taken from him Sasuke had always tried to keep a distance from people, so he wouldn't get emotionally attached—wouldn't make friends. However, that had proved impossible for him. In the end, he had started to care.

"Sasuke?" Sakura's soft voice chimed, pulling him from his reverie.

"Hn," He sounded in reply, looking at her from under his long bangs.

"Do you…maybe…want to go on a walk with me?" She asked hesitantly, a faint rosy blush evident on the porcelain skin of her face. She looked up at him, seeing his eyes on her; she looked back down quickly and attempted to make it sound less weak and desperate. "Or, if that doesn't work for you, maybe we could do something tomorrow? I mean we don't have training tomorrow so I thought..you know, maybe." She realized as the words passed her lips that her follow up statement had sounded even more desperate.

'_Why do I even bother? I know he doesn't like me, I just keep thinking that one of these days…he'll say yes." _ She thought to herself in defeat.

"Look Sasuke-kun, forget I said—." She was about to try to retract her former sentences when she was interrupted.

"Sure. Let's do something tomorrow." His voice was smooth as the words fell from his pale lips. The nervousness and confusion he felt that shown in his eyes was quite obvious, so he kept his dark navy orbs trained on the ground at his feet, concentrating on keeping his usual tone of voice .

"R-really?" She asked.

"Yeah."

Sasuke himself didn't understand why he was saying yes, maybe he just felt that if he was leaving anyway what left was there to lose. '_Why not?'_ He had thought. His thought process was now trying to comprehend why he had accepted the offer and not turned it down like every other time. The whole 'nothing left to lose' thing wasn't like him, but for now it was what he clung to as his reasoning. He glanced up to her eyes again and then returned his gaze to the mud beneath him. He took a deep breath and looked up to the sky, not understanding what it was that he felt, and suddenly he started to regret what he was getting himself into. He shouldn't be getting even more attached to someone now, it went against his plan, and it would only make it harder to reach his goal. Why in the world then had he said yes? He didn't know; he just did it. It was like he spoke the words before he really thought it through. That wasn't like him at all; he usually thought things through more thoroughly before deciding on one thing or another. So, why didn't he this time? Maybe it was because deep down he knew that all he wanted was to spend a little more time with her before she would be gone forever. No. He wouldn't accept that, he couldn't. He settled on the fact that he was leaving anyway so it didn't matter what he did in his last few days in Konoha, and it couldn't hurt if he didn't get attached. So that's all he had to do, stick to his new little plan, don't build bridges that he can't burn.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked as she observed the contemplation in his eyes.

He did not respond.

"So, what time should we meet?" She tried again; worried that he would change his mind if she didn't keep his attention. She took a step closer to him, and hesitantly reached out to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. He didn't say anything at first but turned to look at her. His gaze drifted over the hand on him, and then he spoke up once he came out of his train of thoughts.

"I don't care. Whatever time you want." He stated as flatly as possible.

Her shimmering emeralds lit up once more and she smiled.

"Great! So, I'll meet you at your place at 11:00? Thanks Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed excitedly as she ran off back toward her house.

Before he had a chance to respond, she was gone. He sighed and looked back up to the rain, his thoughts trailing back to his earlier question. What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

That's all for now! Let me know what you thought. And thanks in advance!


	2. Asking Why

Well, here's chapter two! Enjoy!

I do not own the Naruto characters, Kishimoto does.

* * *

Sasuke spent his night thinking as always, mulling over what it was that he had to do the next day.

"Don't get attached." He said to himself aloud, starring out at the night through his window. The nighttime usually made him feel more at ease, being alone and content in the silence. Tonight however, it was torture. The silence only caused him to dwell on his worries about the next day with Sakura even more, making it impossible to forget that he had stupidly said yes to her. He exhaled quietly, trying to clear his mind of the plaguing thoughts. He walked slowly over to stand by his window, looking out at the stars; the clouds that had been blanketing the sky that day had disappeared by now. Opening it slightly, he took a deep gulp of the night air, its cool freshness did not bring the relief he had been hoping for.

"There's nothing to worry about… I mean, she's just a….girl." He spoke again to himself. Worry and irritation was once again filling his head like an impending flood as he imagined how awkward tomorrow would be. "Get a grip Sasuke." He scolded himself, "Since when have I ever let some girl get me all psyched out?" He asked into the silence, secretly hoping that maybe someone would speak up and tell him that 'Sasuke Uchiha would never let something as absurd as that happen'—tell him that he wasn't going insane with nervousness, but no one ever did.

He had never been one to show his emotions, he had always been quite good at hiding them from the world—from himself, so the thought of giving into these feelings was unacceptable. He didn't even know what it was that he was feeling in the first place, it was annoying not understanding the signs his own body was giving him. In the times that he was alone with Sakura he barely could speak to her without tripping over his words, his mouth not willing to produce vocabulary for him to say, it was much easier for him to just stick to the little or no replies he gave. His heartbeat would unintentionally speed up, and the feeling it gave him was both exciting and terrifying. It never use to be like this, he had originally been able to ignore her and his other classmates quite easily, but in time it became harder to avoid her presence. When she became his teammate, it became impossible. Overall, it was irritating. Because no matter how much he tried to not get attached, he had in the end done just that.

'_Is this what it's like to have a crush on someone?' _He mentally asked himself in disgust, because in truth he didn't honestly know what that would feel like.

'_No, no way, Sasuke.' _ He tried again to convince himself that it wasn't possible for him to possess those types of feelings.

In his childhood he had always been obsessed with being like his older brother, constantly following after him at any chance he got, leaving little time for the girls that were persistently after him. Plus, he was only a little kid then, and little boys weren't really all that interested in girls when it was much more fun to play with big brother. So Sasuke had never really known what it was like to like a girl in that way, it was something he never bothered with. However, it was now becoming apparent that was no longer the case.

'_No, I can't be…I can't like her… Can I?' _With that thought, Sasuke ran his hand over his face and sighed, his mind filled with questions he truly didn't want to hear the answers to, somehow he knew he wouldn't like the truth.

Sasuke glanced out his window once more, his navy orbs shinning in the moonlight, before reaching out and closing it and pulling the drapes closed. He walked over to his large bed and climbed under the dark covers, the soft fabric coming as some relief to his troubled mind. His blue eyes scanned a crossed the ceiling of his apartment, as if the solution to his situation would be written there, seeing no such writing he rolled over and buried his face in the plush surface of his pillow. Sasuke inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled, in an effort to expel the confusion from his sleepy mind. Why did this have to be so annoyingly difficult?

"What's wrong with me?" He breathed into his pillow, and with that final question he drifted off into the blackness of sleep.

* * *

The next morning arrived and brought with it the day Sasuke had been dreading all night. His alarm clock woke him at nine thirty, the sound of its beeping making him grunt in annoyance. He slowly opened his dark navy eyes, but quickly closed them once again as a beam of bright daylight streamed in from a gap in his curtains. The young ninja squinted in the light and cursed softly at the sunlight, as he stood from his position on the bed. He let his blue eyed gaze drift to the clock on his bedside table.

'_Only an hour or so and Sakura'll be here…God, why me? Oh, that's right, because I just had to say yes like an idiot' _He moaned in frustration as mentally slapped himself.

He decided to make the most of his morning before she got there. He ate a quick breakfast and then made his way down the hall to the bathroom for a shower. He tried not to think of her anymore, deciding to push those thoughts aside so he could shower in peace. He walked into his small bathroom, it wasn't much, but it had all he needed. Sasuke took off his old clothes, tossing them into the laundry bin in the corner before turning and stepping into the shower. He turned the handle and let the warm water wash over his tired muscles, the feeling of the water was more than welcoming. The young shinobi took his time standing under the steady flow of warmth, letting it ease his mind and thoroughly soak his raven locks.

"Maybe I should cut my hair," He mused quietly to himself as he ran his hands through the long strands the fell in front of his face. "Nah, it's not worth the trouble." He concluded.

Sasuke picked up the bottle of shampoo, pouring a small amount into the palm of his hand, lathering it into a foamy state and then working it through his dark hair. He rinsed the soapy substance from the soft black strands, watching as the soap filled water trailed down his body and eventually swirled down the drain. The young ninja stood there for a while, entranced by the swirling hot water that made its way down into the abyss of the shower drain. While listening to the sound the water made as it trickled down, he soon found his mind wondering.

'_Why does she have to make leaving so difficult? Is she just trying to make me stay?' _He sighed. _'She doesn't even know that I'm leaving, if she did, it would only be ten times harder. She would probably try to come up with stupid reasons for me to stay here or worse yet, she would probably want to go with me.' _He grunted in frustration.

"Why me huh?" he growled to himself.

He was pulled from his inner thoughts as the water ran cooler over his skin, realizing that he was taking much too long he quickly finished up washing his body. Sasuke shut the water off and stepped out of the shower and onto the cold floor, grabbing a towel; he wrapped his wet body in it and walked back to his room. His eyes quickly glanced at the clock to check how long he had been in the shower, he realized that he had been in there for a little over thirty minutes and he silently cursed at himself. He now only had just under an hour before Sakura would be there. He ran a hand over his damp face and swore to himself that he needed to stop thinking so much. Well, so much for the quickie shower he had planned on. He swiftly walked over to his dresser to locate some fresh clothing, his wet hair dripping onto his bare chest as he stood there digging in his upper drawer for a shirt to wear.

After all the necessary clothing items had been found he walked back over to his bed side, hurrying to get dressed seeing as the cold air was not so pleasant on his wet skin. He discarded his towel off to the side of his bed and quickly dressed himself in his clean clothes, shivering as he did so. Finally satisfied with his clothing situation, he set off to dry his hair.

"Why does it even matter what I look like?" He questioned himself as he towel dried his raven strands of silky hair. He shook his head to clear his thoughts again and picked up a comb, deciding to brush his bangs further over his eyes than usual, they often came in handy when he needed to avoid eye contact.

He would no longer need his Konoha headband after today, so with that in mind he chose not to wear it. He look at it sadly, his fingers now absently tracing the swirled leaf pattern that for so long had been a symbol he wore proudly. He sighed once more and look at the ceiling thinking back to the time when he had tried to convince himself that being on team 7 in Konoha with his comrades was all he needed, that his revenge wasn't worth it. In the end he found that he had been lying to himself all along, he couldn't live a normal life here, and his destiny was always to be an avenger—not to live happily like some people could. It was simply something he could never outrun. For a time he had thought that he could forget his revenge and go on as a Konoha shinobi like his friends would, but he was unavoidably always pulled back to his path as an avenger, reminding him that he must become stronger to fulfill his destined role in life. That's where Orochimaru came in. He had power and Sasuke needed it. Simple as that or was it? He knew that tangling with the Sanin was a bad idea, but it was the only surefire way that he was going to get the power he so desperately wanted. So, it had to be done, he had to leave.

Sasuke gently put the head band down on the small shelf under his window beside the picture of his teammates and himself. He looked over the photograph, remembering the day it had been taken. It had been the day after they were all put on a team together, at the time he had been so annoyed that he had to work with such losers let along take a picture with them. Now he could see that he really was thankful to have gotten to truly know them. They were the closest thing he had to family now and it had been admittedly quite fun to be on their team. All the missions, all the late training sessions, all of his teammate's smiles and laughter, those were memories he was grateful to have had. He would never forget, but he would move on to what was important now. He had to; it was all he lived for. With that thought in mind he laid the picture frame face down and sighed. His navy orbs lifted to look out the window at the blue sky above Konoha, at least the sky would always be the same wherever he went. Right?

"I have to do this." He said aloud to no one, he voice sounding as determined as he could muster.

He decided that since he would be leaving that night that he would set to packing his things up. Sasuke went to his hall closet and retrieved his dark grey backpack; he assumed all of his necessary things would fit in it just fine. He treaded back to his bed and laid the pack down on it, glancing around his room he sighed, he could not take many things with him on his journey. Walking over to his dresser, he began to pull out his clothes and fold them; he took them back over to the backpack and loaded them inside it. He continued this process until he had gotten all the clothes he deemed necessary, figuring that in his time with Orochimaru he would acquire more as the need arose. Sasuke then grabbed few other things such as weaponry and a couple scrolls on jutsu techniques; he also picked up his journal and placed it in his pack. Maybe he could read over it if he ever felt the need to relive the old days—days when things were much less complicated, still difficult, but not so emptying. He knew to cope with the training he would soon face, he would have to become empty, and if he didn't his emotions would no doubt be the end of him. So, he would have to let it all go, as hard as that may prove to be.

He pulled himself from his depressing thoughts, his dark orbs gazing toward his clock. It read 10:54, indicating to him that his impending doom was near.

"Going out today with Sakura will probably worse than training with Orochimaru, heh" He joked flatly to himself, his smooth voice full of irony.

'_I'll just get through today and then by tonight, I am out of here.' _He thought to himself hopefully, but knowing deep down that it was not going to be that easy. He groaned in frustration.

'_Ugh, WHY DID I SAY YES?'_ He internally yelled. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, this was going to be a very long day.

Sasuke walked quickly down his hall and into the bathroom to do a once over in the mirror, he wanted to see if he looked just as stupid and pathetic as he now felt. The only thing the mirror displayed was usual reflection starring back at him, it was patronizing. Why couldn't he have just told her no? Was that really so hard?

'_Yes, because you like her.' _His inner thoughts replied to his internal questions. _'You couldn't have said no if you tried' _It said again. He glared at his reflection tempted to just punch and shatter the glass, deciding he was not liking what his mind was telling him, he walked back out to his room and threw himself on the bed. He buried his face in his pillow and let out a moan of annoyance, slamming his fist into the mattress as he did so, hoping that doing this would help to ease his irritation but finding that it did not help at all.

He was about to full on vent his rage on his innocent bedding, but just as he was preparing to rip his pillow to shreds a noise came from the front door. He paused and listened, and then it sounded again. It was the sound of someone knocking on his door. He rolled his dark blue eyes.

"Looks like you're safe for now." He said to his pillow as he threw it back down on the bed.

"Sasuke-kun? Are you home?" Sakura's soft voice chimed from behind his front door.

"Yeah, hang on. I'll be right there." He called, sighing as he walked up to the door and placed his hand on the door knob.

'_Well hell, here I come.' _He thought to himself in distain as he turned the knob and opened his door.

* * *

Well, that's it for this chapter! Let me know what you think. Please review, I need some feedback! Lol Hope you all enjoyed it thus far!


	3. Cherry Blossoms

Hello everybody! Thank you so much for waiting for this I know I took way too long to post it. I really hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think.

* * *

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said as Sasuke opened the door with hesitation.

"Yeah, good morning" He replied, trying desperately to hide his burning frustration with his emotional instability. His dark orbs met her green ones and then quickly averted their gaze to the ground, he silently cursed at himself that he needed to remember to not make eye contact.

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. He had known that today would be the end of him; he had just been hoping that he would go out fighting, not in a pathetic whimper. He was trying so hard to keep his normal composure but it was beginning to feel like that was near impossible to do. Sasuke glared at the ground beneath his sandals, so much for his keep it together and don't' get attached plan. The young ninja was starting to think that maybe this was one self-assigned mission that he would not complete. It was so frustrating not understanding these new feelings—or more so fighting them. He knew the truth but at the same time he would not accept it. How could he? It's not like he wanted to like her… Or did he?

"Sasuke?" Sakura's light voice asked, her eyes looking at him in worry. "Are you ok? You look kind of upset." She stated her voice still full of concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered, making his voice as flat and monotonous as he could muster. He looked up to her eyes again, his own navy orbs somewhat hidden behind a veil of silken black hair.

"Oh ok, that's good." She said, her voice returning to its usual tone. "So, what should we do first? I mean I was thinking we could go for a walk through the park and look at the cherry blossom trees, they are beautiful this time of year, and maybe after that we could go to lunch. That's just what I was thinking though, so we don't have to if you don't want to." She said, her voice sounding very nervous as she tried not to sound too desperate.

"Whatever. I don't really care what we do, so whatever you want is fine." Sasuke said, attempting to sound uncaring, but hints of his own nervousness made its way into his words.

"Really?" She exclaimed, clearly excited that he had agreed to her plans for the day. "Oh Sasuke, you are the best, thank you!"

He immediately regretted the 'whatever you want' statement as the bright smile on Sakura's face grew and she grabbed his hand and began to lead him toward their first destination.

His eyes nervously looked to the hand holding his, his heart rate picking up pace dramatically as he realized that they were actually holding hands. It was awkward and exciting at the same time and overall terrifying. He so desperately wanted to pull his hand away from her grasp, but he could not bring himself to actually let go. He took a deep gulp of air and tried to calm down a bit, but to no avail. His mind would not stop racing, his thoughts were going a mile a minute and he couldn't bring them to a halt. It was becoming more and more evident that his train of thoughts would soon derail and become a very bad train wreck. What was he supposed to do now?

Sasuke's inner turmoil was lost to Sakura as she was busy talking of something Sasuke couldn't quite grasp. It had something to do with the trees but he wasn't focusing on what she was speaking about enough to understand what it was that she was saying as she pulled him along the dirt trail. His frazzled mind was much too busy panicking. It was not like Sasuke to panic, but he couldn't help it, with her things were different—he was different.

"Sasuke? What do you think?" She asked as she looked at him.

"What do I think of what?" He replied in confusion, trying to keep his voice even.

"I was asking you what you thought of the cherry blossom trees, "She tried again as she let go of his hand to gesture to the trees.

He was filled with relief as she finally released her hold on him; he took a deep breath and tried to regain focus in his disheveled thoughts. His gaze roamed over his hand where hers had been only moments ago, and he couldn't help but somewhat miss the feeling it had given him—as nerve-racking as it had been. Sasuke finally registered that she had again spoken and he quickly looked to where she was pointing, taking notice the cherry blossoms that were in full bloom. Usually he wouldn't have even really cared what the trees looked like, but he had to admit that they were beautiful.

"I think they are really nice."He finally answered his almost onyx orbs looking to her as he nodded trying to make it seem that he had been listening.

She smiled and replied, "They are aren't they?" She voiced and looked up to the pink flowering tree branches above them. Her hair matched the flowers perfectly as it flowed around her porcelain face in the gentle breeze.

Sasuke couldn't help but gasp at how beautiful she looked. He mentally slapped himself for starring, as he tried to look away and keep his eye's trained on the flowers, the ground, the sky—anything but her. He couldn't accept these feelings, even if it was clear that he would never outrun them. Sasuke was beginning to think that he was too weak to resist, but that could never happen—or at least he wouldn't let it happen. If he did, his whole purpose in life would mean nothing, he would never avenge his family. He cringed at the thought of failing his family, and promised himself that he would endure, he had to. He would not give into these new feelings, but who was to say that he actually had a say in his fate.

The sound of Sakura's soft giggling woke Sasuke from his internal battle and made him look up at her again.

"What?" He asked, clearly confused as to what she was laughing at.

He was even more confused as she pointed to his hair, giggling too much to say anything at the time. He starred at her, trying to figure out what was so funny. He huffed in annoyance at his failure to understand what it was.

"You have flower petals in your hair." She managed through her little fits of laughter, "Sasuke, you look so pretty." She giggled again.

He blushed slightly and reached up to pull a pink petal from his dark hair. He had been standing still for so long that he had unknowingly been dusted with some of the falling flower petals, he sighed and looked and the ground trying to hide his embarrassment and annoyance. Sasuke shook his head slightly to try and rid himself of the little pieces of pink, but having no way of knowing of he had been successful.

"Here, let me help you." Sakura said, stepping closer to him and reaching up to dust the remaining petals from his soft black mess of hair.

It was only when he looked up that he realized how close they really were, and he gulped in a breath of air nervously. Sakura heard his sudden breath and looked down from her task of clearing petals from his hair to meet his dark blue orbs; she blushed red as she now too realized that they're faces were only inches apart. Sasuke's own face was now also blushing slightly and he tried to look away from her green eyes.

"Oh! Sorry, Sasuke!" Sakura gasped out and stepped back from him, trying to make the situation less awkward but failing miserably.

"Uh huh." He just starred at the ground, still attempting to regain his normal breathing and heart rate. His heart felt like it was going to give out, he sucked in a deep breath and exhaled and tried to calm it down. He never thought being close to her could feel to exhilarating and nerve-racking at the same time. _'Calm down Sasuke! Come on get a grip!'_ He yelled in his head, wishing he could at least act like he was okay.

"I didn't mean to…" She said, continuing her apology.

"No no, it's…okay. I'm fine." He tried to say with as much strength as he could. "So um, what's on the agenda now?" He asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Um well since it's about 11:30, we could start walking back to town and get something to eat if you want." She offered, sensing the need to switch the subject and happily taking the opportunity to ease some of the awkwardness.

"Sure." He agreed, silently thanking the gods that he had been spared more embarrassment.

As they walked back along the dusty path through the village park, Sasuke could not help but think about what had just happened moments ago. They had been so very close, and as terrifying as it had been at the time he could not bring himself to say that he had hated it. In truth, he had somewhat liked it. _'What the hell is wrong with me?'_ He asked himself in disbelief. He couldn't really like her, he just couldn't. He had this internal argument many times before, and if he was honest with himself, he knew that it always came to the same redundant conclusion. He could like her, and he did.

'_I like Sakura' _ His thoughts finally confessing what he never wanted to confess.

* * *

Well that's it for this chapter! I hope you liked it!


	4. Holding Hands

Hello everyone! Sorry for making you wait, I hope you can forgive me. Well here is chapter four! Wow I know, four already? This one is pretty long. (I hope it makes up for my incredibly short chapter three) Enjoy! Oh, and please please please tell me what you think! I need feedback, it's how I get to be a better writer so you can read more of my stories! (See the cycle? Lol) A big thank you to all who have already given reviews! You have been very helpful, so thank you all!

* * *

They had made the trek to town not too long after their little awkward moment in the park, keeping silent as they walked.

Sasuke had finally admitted it—not aloud—but admitted it nonetheless. Now that he had overcome the internal battle of denial, a new issue made itself present. He liked her, but now what? Would he still be able to leave her behind and throw away the life he had always known all to pursue his vengeance, or would he fail completely at his life's goal and stay here in Konoha? Sasuke processed his new situation as they walked along the streets, his heart now utterly twisted and torn between the two paths that now lay before him. Vengeance or happiness? He knew what he had to do, the decision should be clear, but what he didn't know anymore was if that was still really what he wanted to do. Killing Itachi had been all he lived for, even when he had tried to forget revenge. Sasuke always lived with the feeling that he must still surpass his brother—become stronger than him. However, now he didn't even know if that mattered to him anymore. Sakura made him feel good—not without annoying nervousness—but still better than he had felt in a long time. That was just it. He was feeling again, after all the time that he had thought his heart had died along with his fallen family, she had awoken him. It was terrifying though, knowing that his heart was soft and beating again, it made him vulnerable. The wall of ice that had once sheltered his true self was shattering down into little shards, and he didn't know if there was a way to build it back up. He was open to the terrors of the world once more, and he hated it. Sasuke knew that Sasuke knew that Sakura had been the one to break his shell, yet he could not hate her for it. He wanted to, by all means, hating her would make it so easy. He could forget her and move on to his destiny. Yes, hate he could handle, but love… that was another story.

"Sasuke, what would you like to eat for lunch?" Sakura asked as they strolled along a street full of little restaurants and shops.

"Hm?" He responded, being too lost in his thoughts to catch what she has said.

"What do you want for lunch, Sasuke?" She asked patiently again.

"Oh, um…I don't really care. What do you want to eat?" Sasuke answered, trying to sound like he was interested in the topic, but failing miserably. He was so lost in his new thoughts that he couldn't really focus on anything else.

Sasuke looked up to meet her green shimmering orbs, a slight blush finding its way to his cheeks as he realized that she was looking back into his own dark eyes. He cleared his throat and tried to avert his gaze, but his dark navy orbs found their way to hers once more.

She smiled. His heart leapt.

Sakura tilted her head to the side slightly in confusion, "Sasuke, what is it? What's wrong?" She asked slowly.

"Uh, um… Nothing, I'm fine." He replied quickly while crossing his arms across his chest and looking away from her. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, attempting to rid his head of the love struck thoughts that had flooded his mind.

"Oh, ok." She replied with a smile. "So do you like Teriyaki? There is a great little Teriyaki shop up the street a ways." Sakura suggested, trying to get his opinion on their plans for lunch. He had said that he didn't care, but she wanted his thoughts on it nonetheless.

"Yeah, sure." Sasuke replied. The young ninja looked up to his comrade and nodded, silken black strands of hair swayed as his head bobbed up then down.

He wouldn't say it aloud, but he actually loved Teriyaki. His mother used to make it all the time when he was younger, so it always brought comfort to him. She had always been so caring to him, always there to care for him when he needed it most. That was something that he missed more than anything, the love he once felt that had been taken from him. Things were so hard growing up without that feeling of support and understanding. He had to learn everything on his own, suffer through everything on his own and come to terms with life on his own. It wasn't easy, but then again, when was life ever easy?

He sighed deeply as he followed Sakura down the dirt road to his destination, continuously wishing that his mother could be here now to give him advice on what to do now. She had always been the one to tell him what he should do; she had always known just what to say to make everything seem alright. Oh if she could see him now. Would she be proud of him or would she see just how far he had fallen from being himself? Would she turn her back on him for failing his purpose? Sasuke's heart twisted as he thought of his mother's reaction to his current situation.

"Here we are." Sakura said happily, turning to look at her crush as he walked up beside her.

"Hn." He replied with a nod, his gaze drifting from her to the door of the small restaurant and back again.

They entered the Teriyaki shop and ordered two bowls of Teriyaki chicken and rice, Sasuke had paid for both. It just didn't feel right to make her pay after all.

"Thank you, Sasuke" She said as they made their way over to a table.

"Mhm." He responded in his form of 'you're welcome'.

"No, really thank you…for everything. You have no idea how much this means to me, I am so happy that I get to spend time with you… So just, thank you." She said, the last part of her sentence seeming to come out softer than the rest. Her green orbs softened as she looked off into the distance, looking like she had momentarily spaced out and was now in her own little world.

Sasuke looked at her in surprise, his eyes wide as he looked into her shimmering emeralds. He lowered his eyes back down to the table, his dark orbs saddened as he truly took in what she as meant and what that had meant for him.

She had always wanted this—wanted him— and now she was finally getting it, but it was too late. He was leaving the village. Sasuke knew that it would crush her, but was it only her that would be crushed? He honestly didn't want to hear the answer to that question. He knew it would be hard, and he knew that he may not be able to do it.

'_Sasuke you have to, there is no choice. Don't let your family down' _He chanted in his head, trying to convince himself that letting go was necessary. Every fiber of his being told him that it was, that is, every part aside from his heart. It was telling him just the opposite. Wasn't that how people got into trouble? They followed their hearts and not their logic. Sasuke knew that it was a hard choice to make, your heart and feelings versus destiny and duty, but the question now was…which would he chose?

He looked back up to her, looking once again into her distant green orbs. Her expression was soft; obviously whatever it was that she was thinking about must have been pleasant. Honestly he didn't want to break the train of thoughts she was having, feeling as if maybe it was best to let her feel happy and content now, knowing that soon her joy would come to a crashing halt. Guilt filled his throbbing heart as he realized just how selfish his choice would seem to her, she would never forgive him for this transgression. How could she? He knew that no one could understand his path as an avenger, not even he himself truly understood it. All he knew was that killing his brother was his destiny, it always had been. He clenched his fist on the table as he thought of the road ahead, the happiness and relief that Sakura brought into his life would soon have to be forgotten—left behind, just as he had to leave his old life behind. Sasuke understood that leaving would forever separate him from Sakura and he knew that she would come to hate him for it. So, for today, he would try to give her what she had asked for. It was the most he could do for her, maybe it could serve as some sort of retribution for his crime against her in advance, but he knew it could never truly count for anything. His dark eyes saddened once more as he glanced back up at her. Only moments had passed since that has taken their seats at the table, but lost in thought it had felt like an eternity. Sasuke cleared his throat once to try and break the silence, drawing both of them back into the real world.

"No, thank you." He said quietly in response. His eyes met hers as she looked back at him in confusion.

"Why are you thanking me?" She asked.

"Um, just thanks for…uh… you know, lunch I guess." He replied, trying to get away from his depressing thoughts and make the situation as normal as possible.

"Oh, well you paid for it so you really shouldn't be thanking me." She said, smiling at him as she spoke.

"Well, you picked the restaurant, so thanks too." He said, still trying to make his gratitude make sense to her. In reality, he was thankful to her for giving him this last day with a friend—well, more than a friend. He truly was happy to have her, which is why it was going to be crushing to lose her.

Sasuke sighed as he shook his head slightly, attempting to clear the thoughts from his mind once more. He glanced down to his steaming hot bowl of food and realized that he had just been sitting there not once touching his food, neither of them had. Slowly he picked up his chopsticks and looked up to her.

"Well um, should we eat?" He asked, gesturing to the food before them.

"Oh right, yes we should" Sakura replied like she had honestly forgotten that that had food or even where they were for that matter.

They ate their lunch in relative quiet; every now and again Sakura would start a small conversation about simple matters, like training, school and such. He would reply and they would return to eating silently. Time seemed to pass slowly for Sasuke; it felt like hours were passing when in reality they had only been there for thirty minutes or so. When they had finally finished up with their meals, they exited the little shop and stepped out onto the dirt pathway.

"So, Sasuke, what do you want to do now?" Sakura asked him as came to stand beside her.

"Like I said earlier, I don't really care. So, whatever you want." Sasuke replied somewhat flatly as he looked up to the sky and sighed. His dark eyes squinted in the bright light of the sun that steamed down on them from above. He slid his hand into his pocket as he turned to her again.

"Don't tell me you ran out of things to do, heh." He said, his voice taunting playfully as a smirk spread on his pale lips.

"N-no, of course not!" She blurted while blushing. He hardly ever joked with her, it was always with Naruto. So, when he did, she found it rather overwhelming. His smirk always made her blush.

"Good." He said, his smirk fading slightly as he looked back up to the sky. "So, now what?" He asked.

"Um, how about we go see a movie?" She suggested, trying to pick something that would seem interesting.

"Sure" Sasuke lowered his gaze from the sky to look at her again.

Konoha only had one theater, it was small and not as grand as some theater, but it was enough to keep the local kids happy.

Sasuke watched Sakura as she seemed to internally struggle with something, as if she was pondering if she should ask something or not. Her eyes were filled with hesitation and determination at the same time, continuously going back and forth across the border between the two. She shifted nervously and looked up at him, seemingly have come to a decision. He looked at her in confusion and tilted his head to the side slightly.

"What?" He asked her, as he stared at her waiting for an answer.

"Well, it's about earlier," she replied, nervously looking at the ground.

"Yeah, what about it?" He asked not quite getting which 'earlier' she was referring to. His heart rate picked up as he thought about how close they had been at the park, oh how he wished that was not what she was referring to. He didn't know if he could handle talking about it.

"Um, well when we were walking to the park…and I held your hand…Did you like it? I mean I thought you would pull your hand away, but you didn't so…I was just wondering." She stammered somewhat awkwardly over her sentences.

Worse. Why did she have to bring that up? He had hope that she would forget it happened, but obviously whatever great being in the sky there was had decided to make things as difficult as possible. His dark orbs were wide as he looked around trying to find something to distract her with, trying to make the awkward situation disappear. No such luck however.

Sakura noted the discomfort in his eyes and quickly tried to retract her questions. "I'm sorry Sasuke, it doesn't matt—" She was cut off as he spoke.

"No, I mean… I didn't mind it; I guess… it was kind of, um, nice." He stumbled through his confession, avoiding her eyes at all cost.

"Really?" She said, shock filling her voice and expression.

"Uh, yeah." Sasuke replied.

"So, would you mind if I um, did it again?" She asked him while blushing a rosy red across her porcelain face.

"No, I don't mind" He blushed as well, and looking from the ground up to her green orbs he realized that she too was nervous to ask—not that it made it any less nerve-racking nor did it make him feel any less nervous.

She took a step closer to him and gently held out her hand, waiting for him to take it. Sasuke took a deep breath and reached out to hold onto her hand. As their fingers intertwined, they looked up into each other's eyes, each seeming to calm slightly as they realized that they were both ok with it. Sasuke had to admit, it was a lot less scary this time—partly because he had been expecting it this time—mostly because it felt so right. It was almost like they were made to fit together, it just felt natural. Without the panic that had been there before, Sasuke could honestly say that he enjoyed it, as scary of a thought as that was for him. Admitting that he liked her was hard for him to do, but there was truly no outrunning it now. It was here, and he had to face it. He just prayed that he could.

Sasuke cleared his throat to try and bring them both back to reality. "Should we um, get going? He said now attempting to find a normal, non-awkward topic.

"Right! Sorry about that…" She apologized. "Sasuke…what does this mean?" She hesitantly asked, gesturing to their interlocked hands.

"I don't know." He replied quietly.

And he truly did not know what it meant for them, for him or for his destiny.

'_What now?'_

* * *

And that's that! I hope you have enjoyed it thus far!

Oooh! What will happen next? We can only wonder! Hehe

Thanks guys!


	5. Give Me a Reason

Hello world! I am back! Mwahhahahaha XD Here is my next installment to this hell of a long story! I hope you all like it! Enjoy!

* * *

The walk toward the theater was being made in silence, both of them simply enjoying each other's presence. It hadn't been as awkward as Sasuke had imagined, holding a girls hand and all, it did make people stare though. That in itself was probably more awkward than the actual act of holding her hand; he hated it when people stared. It was just something he could never truly get used to. His dark eyes scanned from person to person as they looked back at him and Sakura whispering something to one another ever so often. Sasuke was becoming very uncomfortable as their questioning and accusing gazes seemed to be burning a hole in his back, he couldn't stand it. The worst part was he knew most of these people. They were mostly girls that he had gone to the academy with when he was younger. Why did it have to be kids he knew? Surely they remembered him quite well. His hand subconsciously tightened its hold on Sakura's, not harshly, but enough for her to take notice.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" Sakura asked as she noted the discomfort in his eyes.

"Uh…Yeah, I'm fine." He replied hesitantly, looking from the small crowd of his former classmates back to her green orbs.

"Oh, okay." She said, still confused. Her eyes traced his line of sight back to the small group of preteens behind them, realizing that they were all the girls from the academy who she had once fought over Sasuke's affection with, a smile spread across her pink lips. She felt oh so victorious, and couldn't help the smug grin she now wore.

'_Ha! In your faces! Cha!' _She thought in triumph.

Sasuke was looking at their whispering followers, but he soon returned his dark gaze back to Sakura, upon doing so he noticed the smirk on her delicate face. His own face contorted into an expression of confusion, honestly not understanding what there was to be happy about. Certainly she couldn't be enjoying the small crowd of apparent stalkers, when they were utterly freaking him out with their accusing stare. It was unnerving to be honest.

"What are you smiling at?" Sasuke questioned her, his navy orbs filled with confusion and a touch of annoyance.

"It's nothing." She replied happily, her eyes still trained on the small flock of girls, her smug expressing only deepening as they now realized she was looking at them and glared back at her. She glanced from them to the hand still holding hers, making sure to make the motion overly obvious, their eyes followed hers and their glares intensified.

Sasuke's gaze shot from Sakura to the other girls and back again, his annoyance at not understanding only growing with each passing moment.

"That's it. What the hell is going on here?" He demanded

He stared at her, waiting for an answer. This was getting to be very aggravating for Sasuke. Why was Sakura grinning like that and why were those girls glaring at them? It didn't make sense. Sasuke shifted, his sandals stirring up dust as he did so.

"Oh Sasuke, I'm sorry! It's just…" Sakura cut off as a sound of loud whispering could be heard coming from the small crowd as they parted seeming to make a path. Another noise now resonated from the group, much louder than the whispers, the sound of a girl's high pitched yell.

"Billboard brow did what?" The voice screamed, and soon they could see that it was Ino who had shouted, her form now visible as she pushed through the other girls and stomped out in front of them. Her expression turning from shock to anger to denial as she looked at Sasuke and Sakura, their hands still intertwined.

"Hello, Ino." Sakura said, her smug smile never leaving her lips as she spoke.

Ino grit her teeth. "Don't 'hello' me, Haruno." She growled.

If Sasuke was confused before, now he was completely and utterly lost as to what was happening. His dark eyes were wide with shock as he took in the scene unfolding before him. He had never known Sakura could be so taunting, she was obviously enjoying whatever victory she had achieved, but what that victory was Sasuke didn't have a clue. Why were girls so confusing? Honestly he had no idea what was happening, but the expressions they wore reminded him of two sworn rivals confronting each other on the battlefield. The battle that would ensue promised to be bloody and violent. But why did they hate each other so much now? Sasuke thought that they were friends seeing as they had always hung around each other back at the academy. So what changed? Suddenly something hit Sasuke; it made the situation a little clearer. Ino was jealous, but why? He had seen that expression before, more like he had worn it before. Back when he had seen the extent of Naruto's power, seen that Naruto was in fact stronger than he, Sasuke had been so jealous of that power. The jealousy had caused him to hate Naruto for it; he had fought Naruto with that same anger in his eyes. Of course by now he had come to terms with it and acknowledged that he would just have to become stronger than Naruto, and with that decision his anger at Naruto had dissipated. The question now was why was Ino jealous of Sakura? As far as Sasuke knew, they were both fairly matched in strength. So why fight if not for power? He didn't get it.

"What's the matter Ino-pig? " Sakura taunted again.

"Well, Billboard brow, a little birdie told me that you hooked up with Sasuke." Ino growled again, her jealousy filling her blue eyes.

"Well, that little birdie wasn't lying." Sakura replied. Her tone light and a smile still graced her lips.

"Yeah right Pinky!" Ino retorted with a snort.

"It's true, Ino" Sakura responded again happily, however her eyes betrayed her light tone with the smug glare they bore.

"If that's true than why don't you prove it?" Ino challenged, her eyes now taunting as she glared back into Sakura's green orbs.

"Prove what?" Sasuke asked in confusion, finally coming out of his little train of thoughts and returning to the situation before him. He glanced between the two girls, still not sure of what they were fighting over, and growled in frustration. He knew he had nothing to be mad at Ino for, but for some reason she was causing him to become more than a little annoyed, her glare toward Sakura was affecting him more than he thought it should. He knew Sakura didn't need it, but for whatever reason, he felt the need to protect her.

"Fine. How should I prove it?" Sakura accepted, seeming not to have heard Sasuke's confused question.

"Kiss him. Right now, right here." Ino responded, a smirk now on her face as she glared at Sakura more intensely. "Unless you can't which of course proves my point." She continued tauntingly.

"Fine then I will." Sakura retorted.

"Girls hang on—" Sasuke tried.

"Fine then, do it!" Ino yelled cutting Sasuke off mid-sentence.

"Would you two just liste—"He was cut off again and growled.

"Fine I'll do it!" Sakura countered.

"Would you both just shut up and listen!" Sasuke finally losing his cool and letting his voice rise to a shout.

Both Sakura and Ino, plus the group of girls behind them, ceased all noise as they seemed to stare in complete shock. Their eyes were wide as their gazes fixated themselves on Sasuke, not quite sure if what was happening was real. Did he really just yell at them?

"Uh…" Sasuke began, but then shut his mouth, the stares he now received only making him more uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and attempted to finish his statement, figuring if he had to yell to make a point he might as well actually make one.

"Look, I don't know what the hell is really going on here, but do you two really think arguing like 2nd graders is going to get you anywhere? I mean come on, physically fighting that I get, but what does calling each other names and doing nothing about it get you?" He finished in a huff.

They just stared for a long time, not moving a muscle, before Sakura finally moved a little closer to him, his hand still held in hers. Her eyes were full of shock as she peered into his dark orbs. "Sasuke, I think that was one of the longest sentences I have ever heard you say." She said in awe.

He blushed slightly in embarrassment at her statement and looked down to the dirt below him.

"Do you think that maybe, you could just tell me what's going on here?" He mumbled, his voice now quiet as he realized that he really doesn't speak in public frequently and now realizing why that was. It was awkward and only made things worse in his opinion.

"Um well, Ino doesn't believe that you and I are…uh…together, so she said I had to kiss you to prove it." Sakura hesitantly explained, her green orbs now somewhat embarrassed as well.

Sasuke sucked in a breath of air uncomfortably, and his dark orbs widened in confusion. "What?" His voice trailed, still trying to gather what Sakura had just told him.

'_Kiss me?'_ He thought to himself as he tried to process the challenge Ino had proposed. His stomach was filled with the notable and familiar fluttering of nervousness, making him feel unstable and confused. The thought of actually kissing Sakura was overwhelming, his heart rate was through the roof and he felt if it didn't slow it's beating that it would soon give out completely. He attempted to take a deep breath, but found that his lungs would only draw in shaky, uneven gasps of oxygen. The feeling was terrifying and he questioned if he would soon pass out from the nervousness that filled his entire being. Why did they have to pick kissing of all things?

"See Billboard brow, Sasuke doesn't really want you. So, how about you just give up and let him be with someone he really loves? Face it you never had a chance." Ino said in an insulting tone, obviously not in shock any longer and now taking the opportunity to taunt Sakura.

Sasuke caught the hurt in Sakura's emerald orbs as her gaze fell to the ground, her head lowering in defeat.

'_That's enough Sasuke!" _ He internally yelled at himself. _'Ino is wrong and you know it, so just suck it up like a man and kiss her!" _

With that thought, Sasuke forced all of his anxiety to the side and pulled Sakura forward, not letting the nervous feelings stop him from protecting Sakura from Ino's intolerable statement. He gently tilted her head upward to face him and softly brushed strands of silky pink hair from her porcelain face, his dark orbs searched hers for acceptance as he drew closer to her. A small gasps escaped her pink lips as she stared into the depths of his dark navy eyes, silently telling him that it was okay. Slowly he pulled even closer so that their lips barely brushed each others before finally closing the gap between them, softly pressing his smooth pale lips to hers.

When they parted, their eyes remained locked on each other, both lost in a trance of nervous yet blissful happiness.

'_I just kissed Sakura…' _Sasuke thought in absolute awe of the situation, his heart feeling like it was at its bursting point.

"Sasuke…why?" Ino asked in shock, her blue eyes as wide as they could get. Her question pulled both Sasuke and Sakura out of their staring contest of sorts, and they both looked over to her.

"Because Ino, you should really know what the hell you're talking about before you challenge someone." Sasuke replied with a smirk, as he began to walk away from Ino and the other girls, Sakura's hand still firmly in his as he tugged her along. He turned to look back at Ino over his shoulder, his dark orbs hidden behind the veil of silky black hair.

"Though, I should thank you for giving me a reason to kiss Sakura." He smirked again and continued down the dusty dirt path toward the movie theater, leaving Ino to pick her jaw up off the ground. Sure he could have been a bit nicer, but watching the shock in her eyes was much more entertaining.

* * *

Well my friends that is it for now. I hope you all enjoyed it thus far! Please give me some feedback on what you think of it! Thank you all!


	6. Decisions

Hello there everyone! I am so so so sorry that this took me forever to post! I am sure you are all thinking: "Emo, did you die!" Ha, no I am not dead (though I feel like I am XD) Anyhow, this is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy it! Oh and please let me know what you think! Thank you!

* * *

The rest of the remaining walk to the theater was quiet, neither of them knowing quite what to say after what had just happened.

_'I kissed Sakura… and, I liked it' _Sasuke thought to himself incredulously, his mind still trying to wrap around what had just taken place.

He knew that his mind had been completely clear when he had made the decision, yet now his mind was cloudy and confusing. The odd thing was he didn't regret it like he felt he should. Even though he fully understood what this meant for him now, that letting go was going to be incredibly difficult if not impossible now. Sasuke had finally bridged the gap between Sakura and himself, tearing away any thought of leaving her side, even if he knew he had to. Logically, his right mind told him to walk just away and be the man he must become in order to fulfill his destiny, but his other half—his true self—told him just the opposite. The young shinobi wanted so badly to listen to his heart, and stay here with her where he was finally happy again—finally himself. Was that really enough though? Would his happiness ever be enough to make his family proud? Truthfully, Sasuke understood that it would not. They could never truly be honored if he did not succeed in avenging them. It was his destiny after all, it was who he was—right? Happiness made him weak; it was something he knew he could never really have, knowing that it was always taken from him in the end no matter what he did. Yet, even as Sasuke recognized that fact, he couldn't help but feel that maybe it was wrong. If Sasuke was honest with himself he would willingly admit that he had never felt as strong as he did when kissing Sakura in his entire life, it was a different kind of strength than he was use to, something he had never experienced before. It may not be physical strength, but it was something he had always lacked…the strength to love.

'_Maybe…I could.' _He contemplated, still not entirely sure he knew the path—or rather two paths now before him. Which would he choose?

Was liking—maybe loving—someone enough? He truly didn't know the answer to that now. It was not enough to honor his clan, but was it enough for him? Sasuke's heart was flooded with new feelings and new trepidations, processing his emotions as they submerged him in the depths of confusion and fear yet happiness at the same time. He shook his head slightly, letting dark strands of silken hair hide his dark orbs and the secret thoughts they held from the world. Sasuke watched the road ahead of them in silence, letting his feet absently lead him while his thoughts weighed the pro's and con's of his choices.

If he chose revenge he would have to leave everything behind, including Sakura. The path he knew had had to fill would leave him with nothing in the end, not his family and not his friends. Sasuke knew that killing Itachi would be his retribution for failing to protect his family, and that was and always had been his destiny. If could not even do that for his family, what kind of son was he? His heart twisted and the intense anger he felt tore at the soft flesh of his once hardened heart like steel blades, no longer was he protected from his feelings by a wall of ice, now he could feel every emotion that ran through him. His clan would have wanted him to kill their murderer, make him suffer as they did. Sasuke's head rushed with the heavy thoughts of his family's pain—the path of revenge that they beckoned him to was calling him out and pleading for him to kill their killer, honor their memory. The thoughts passed through like a freight train, the earth shattering rumble of its passing shaking him and shredding his inner core to pieces.

'_Itachi must pay for what he took from me…" _ His thoughts called out, the echo of anger following each word.

His family had lost everything, and rightfully so as their remaining heir, he should as well. Losing his whole life was required so that he could move toward his destiny, but once his destiny was complete, what was there for him? Sasuke was never a selfish person, but being someone who had grown up in the practice of self preservation, he never usually did something if it did not benefit him in some way. So how would revenge benefit himself? Surely he would have the pleasure of finally overcoming Itachi, but what other than that? He would have no family left, having killed his only remaining family member, he would have no friends and he would have no home to return to after having betrayed his homeland for power. Was that really worth it? Now that he thought about it more, it did not seem like a fair trade off for his entire life. Honoring his family was one of the most important things in his existence—if not the most important, but how honored would they be if it was him that ended the Uchiha clan? With his brother dead the task of rebuilding the clan would be on him, leaving him to find a new home for his new family. However, with him being known as a rouge ninja in every nation, who would he ever find as a companion to restore the clan with? He would be all-powerful, undefeated and completely distrusted by everyone. What then? He would die alone in the end wouldn't he? That surely did not benefit Sasuke or honor his clan, even if it was the path he was destined to take. He was not like Neji, he knew that one's path could be changed, but was he going to be able to change his own?

Staying here in Konoha with Sakura was not something he had originally planned to do, but it may benefit him more. Here, with her, he was happy. She made him feel like had never felt before, and even if that scared him to some extent he knew that it was something he would never regret. She was his home, everything about her was what kept him here in the village now, the sole reason he was staying. Sasuke had already planned on severing all ties with those he knew, but her thread connecting her to him had refused to break. That alone was his lifeline to his true self, his tie to happiness and joy. Sasuke never felt that he deserved happiness if his family was not given it, yet here was this girl—giving everything to make him happy. When he thought about Sakura he was at peace, confused by his feelings maybe, but at peace nonetheless. It was so different from what he was use to feeling when he thought of his family, that only ever proved to further depress him or anger him to the point he wanted to destroy everything around him. She never did that to him, she was not the dark feelings of his past. She was light.

'_This is what I want…I want happiness, I want a normal life…I want Sakura." _ Sasuke concluded, the anger that had been present in his prior thoughts had vanished, leaving him calm and clear about his final decision. This was it.

His hand tightened its hold, and he now realized that Sakura's smaller hand was still held in his. Sasuke's heart eased as he looked over to her, her elegant strands of soft pink hair tousled by the passing wind as she looked ahead with shimmering green orbs. He smiled a small but true smile as he gazed upon her, not quite believing his own eyes. How could he be so lucky as to have someone like her love him? It was honestly beyond him, and he supposed that it was just something he had always taken for granted. When he finally came back to the real world and looked ahead of where they were he noted that they were now at the small theater and Sakura was pulling him along over to the 'Now Playing' sign hung above the entrance.

"So, what do you want to watch?" She asked with a beautiful smile written on her lips.

He glanced over the sign for a moment, not recognizing a single title on the list. Sasuke really didn't pay much attention to media, so he was not really up to date on the newest movies.

"Um… I don't know really. Why don't you pick one? I'll watch just about anything." He stated while looking over to her once more, his heart beating a little faster as his dark navy orbs met her shimmering emeralds.

"Well, I don't really know…" She thought aloud while tapping a finger to her lips in thought. "I don't really go to the movies a lot, so I don't really recognize these." She finished, looking over to him again with an apologetic expression on soft features.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at how similar they were to each other as he realized she too did not know anything about the newer movies. He smiled slightly, almost unnoticeably, and made a sound in his form of a chuckle.

"Hn, neither do I." He smirked.

"What? Why are you smiling?" She giggled as she took notice of his expression. Her eye's searching his trying to find the answer on her own. She hadn't said something funny had she?

"Oh, it's nothing" He returned in a playful tone, turning his head to the side slightly in a mock 'I'm not gonna tell you' air. He enjoyed joking with her, making her smile made him feel good.

"Oh come on, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura playfully pushed him softly against his arm, not quite sure if she could handle the usual full on 'play punch' that Sasuke and Naruto usually shared when joking. The thought of hitting Sasuke just didn't compute for her.

"It's just that when you said that you don't really keep up with movies, I was just thinking the same thing." He finally admitted with a small smile, deciding not to continue messing with her, as fun as it was.

"Really?" She giggled, tilting her head to the side in an inquisitive manner.

"Hn, yeah." He replied.

And then Sasuke did something that she was not expecting, at all.

With a soft smile, Sasuke quickly lent down to her and gave a quick yet soft kiss to her unsuspecting lips. His hand came to rest on the back of her head, gently pressing her against his soft pale lips. His dark navy orbs closing briefly as their lips connected, opening only once he pulled away to look in her eyes.

"Sorry." He breathed, still holding her close to him. "I really like kissing you…" Sasuke admitted while blushing slightly.

"I like you kissing me too…" She whispered, still trying to regain her air and bearings as she gazed into his deep navy orbs.

Sasuke pulled back to stand in front of her, a small smile gracing his soft lips as he looked at her. He couldn't believe that he had just done that, so little thought went into the actual act that he felt a little lightheaded thinking about it. He had been so sure about it, it just kind of happened on its own.

'_Wow, I am getting better at that.' _He smiled triumphantly to himself.

"So…Um, we should pick a movie right?" He said while still looking into her shimmering eyes, trying to pull them both back down to earth.

"You're right, sorry." She apologized, smiling and then looking to the sign again. "Hey Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, taking hold of his hand again.

"Hn, yeah?" He responded while glancing down to the hand in his.

"Thank you…for you know, kissing me." She somewhat stuttered nervously.

Sasuke smirked and lent down to give her a soft peck on the cheek, his smirk growing when he lent back and saw her blushing even more.

"Are you going to thank me for kissing every time I do it?" He asked playfully, tilting his head to the side.

"I-well…Maybe…" She stuttered again.

Sasuke chuckled, a real laugh finally coming from his soft lips as his smile grew. The sounds of its perfect chime making Sakura look up at him in disbelief.

"What?" He questioned, now noticing her staring at him.

"Well, first off I am still getting use to you smiling, but Sasuke… I think that is the first time I have ever heard you laugh…" She giggled slightly while smiling happily.

"Hn, really?" He asked tilting his head again to the side, a smirk on his perfect lips.

"Yeah!" Sakura laughed, her eye's shinning joyfully.

"Well, should I stop?" He chuckled again, his tone joking and light.

"No! I love it!" She responded, shaking her head in exaggeration and once again playfully pushing him in the arm.

Her smile made Sasuke's heart leap, its beating picking up pace as he gazed at her. Sasuke had never had a day like this with someone, one where he could just be happy and joke but most of all he hadn't had a day where he could honestly laugh in a very long time.

"You know, I have some movies at my house we could watch if you don't see anything here interesting, and seeing as we know the same amount about these movies, I would say you don't" Sasuke offered with a small smile, returning them to their current issue.

"Oh well, yeah that sounds good." Sakura smiled in response while nodding. "Oh wait, my parents would never let me go over to a boy's house alone…" Her smile fell as she remembered her parent's instructions.

A contemplative look filled Sasuke's features as he looked off to the distance in thought, the gears in his head obviously churning. Soon a smirk found its way back onto his lips and his dark orbs averted their gaze to lock eyes with hers.

"You're right your parents would never let you do that…" He admitted while nodding his head and her face fell even more. "But, who said that we have to tell them?" His smirk was triumphant as he looked into her now wide green orbs.

"You mean I should lie to them?" She asked in shock, her emeralds now resembling dinner plates.

"No, I never said 'lie'. We don't have to say anything, what they don't know can't hurt them." Sasuke concluded.

"Well I guess that would be ok…I mean, if they don't know…" She agreed slowly, working it over in her head. "You know, Sasuke, you are not a very good influence." She giggled.

"Hn, never tried to be." He chuckled.

And with that they had decided to head to his apartment, beginning their trek there along the dirt roads of the village.

* * *

Well that's it for now my minions! I shall return with the next chapter soon! Mwahahaha!

Oh and please review! Just click the little button the bottom of the screen! Come on, it needs some lovin'!


End file.
